The present invention relates to motion picture theatres, and in particular to transportable theatres capable of providing immersive motion picture display experiences to audiences.
Some considerations in the design of facilities for motion picture exhibition include the dimensions of the theatre enclosure, the design and positioning of seats within the enclosure, the size of the screen upon which images are projected, the aspect ratio of the images for presentation, the format of the audio soundtrack that accompanies the motion picture, the configuration of the audio system, and the placement of loudspeakers within the theatre.
Early systems for motion picture exhibition used 35 mm wide film. As motion picture theatres evolved in size from smaller theatres to larger theatres, motion picture producers and exhibitors started experimenting with larger film formats which could enhance the visual impact of the motion picture. Various attempts were made to improve the visual experience of the motion picture patron by expanding the aspect ratio of the screen. However, these attempts were unsuccessful at creating a truly immersive, commercially successful, motion picture experience.
Beginning in 1969, and led by IMAX Corporation, motion picture producers began using horizontally travelling 70 mm film with a film frame of 15 perforations in width, resulting in an image area about ten times that of standard 35 mm film. In addition to using a larger film format, IMAX® re-conceptualized the theatre viewing space by providing significantly larger screens which extended the spectators' fields of view, a steeply raked seating area to give unobstructed viewing of the large screen, and high fidelity, discrete six channel sound to surround the audience. The net result of these advances was a theatre experience in which audience members were immersed in image and sound as never before.
In most cases IMAX® systems were installed in custom designed motion picture theatres having a large interior volume to house both the large screen and a steeply raked seating section. Occasionally, IMAX® projection systems were placed in theatres converted from buildings originally designed for conventional theatrical or motion picture exhibitions. However, in converted theatres, it was sometimes necessary to remove some seats because the visual quality at some locations was poor. Furthermore, in some converted theatres, the slope, or rake, of the seats was relatively shallow, resulting in less than optimal viewing conditions.